Cracking my knuckles

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Does anybody know cracking your knuckles is actually bad for you? I have been doing it for a decent ammount of time I think 3 or 4 years, I would expect by this time I would have taken some affect, and sometime my hand hurts for no particular reason but does it really give you arthritis?

I've heard good and bad things. I've heard that it wears the cartilage down in your joints. but that it also releases pressure build up. Plus they say it hits you when you're older.

You sure they'll always be fine though? I thought that there's been links between cracking knuckles and arthritis in those joints.

i've only been cracking them for about two years and they're all fucked up now.

i love to crack my knuckle before soem kind of competion

ive been cracking my knuckles constantly since i was 9 and now my fingers get stiff, lock in place, and get very sore all the time. that might just be my arthritis though

I've heard that there are build-ups of gas that gather in your knuckles that are collapsed when you crack them.

Well I can only hope there isn't some real long term damage damage because I can't seem to stop. Whenever I have tried I like feel the preasure in my knuckles and like have to crack them...which is weird.

Reading that made me want to crack my knuckles!I crack my knuckles all the time.I've heard it causes damage, and I have also heard it is a myth.My hands are fine, and I've been cracking as long as I can remember! but I'm only 19 so I don't know maybe it will catch up to me. Everything catches up to ya though.

i crack my knuckles, and although ive heard its bad i'm not sure casue ive been doing it for donkeys years.

it happens when oxygen & carbon dioxide bubbles that build up in joints are suddenly released, i dont think the gas pressure could cause any damage to your cartlidge though

It's not the releasing of the gas that causes damage, it's the fact that you're stretching your tendons/cartiledge in your fingers. In order to release the pressure, the tissues there have to be stretched considerably, at first, then less as they're weakened.

It isn't good on your knuckles! My Dad and my sisters boyfriend have issues because of it.

ok then I think I am gonna try really hard to stop.

I like to crack my knuckles before i jam out on bass, but its wrecks after a while :-/, but yeh im tryin to cut down, guitarist sez "i used to do it alot until my hands got artheritic so i stopped" but i guess its different person to person, but its if ur willin to take the risk to sacrifice like hand quality lol. Alls i know is that i cant like make a good fist no more and im bloody 16 :'(

i do it all the time, siince 2 years agosometimes my bones ache and when i crack them they sort of feel mcuh more flexible and freei click a ide range of bones in my bodysuch as;neck, back, wrists, fingers, knuckles, ankles, toesif it does damage in the long run - im fucked

I have been cracking them since i was ten (5 years ago) and now i barely have to push for them to crack and it grosses people out. But i think i am going to have to stop cause they are starting to hurt though

ive been cracking my knuckles for as long as i can remember..well not that long, but i seriously cant remember when i started. i crack them everyday, and they never lock up, or get sore, and they havnt gotten bigger, i think that when those things happen to your hands, its gonna happen anyway, and people just link it to knuckle cracking...cuz its kinda annoying to listen to, and its kidna addictive, but im not a doctor, so i dont know...but...you probobly shouldnt worry.

It is true that cracking your knuckles damages cartilage. The amount of time it takes for the damge to take toll depends on how often you crack your knuckles and your body's resilience.

Well I have now that I have been cracking my knuckles for four years and when it is cold my fingers sort of freeze in place, and now sometimes my joints hurt so much I can barely pick things up. so I wouldn't suggest doing it and you stop even if it hasn't taken affect yet.

Sometimes I REALLY worry about all of my cracking habits. I do it more than anyone else in the world! I must crack my fingers dozens of times a day. I crack my toes and my knees (feels so good), back, neck (the neck really scares people sometimes since I have a very tall neck and you can hear it miles away), wrists, tips of fingers (I can crack about 4 places in each finger, every 10 minutes), and most recently my worst one yet...my left shoulder. It is starting to hurt when I do it, and I don't like doing it anymore but it kind of unconsciously happens. I wish I could stop. I have been cracking everything since I was about 8. I'm now 16. Every once in a while my knuckles do feel very thick and pressurey and stiff. I wish there was a cure to this awful habit. I don't want arthritis at 30.